This invention relates to interactive television program guide systems, and more particularly, to interactive television program guide systems in which users may select a desired language for playing television programming and displaying program guide display screen text.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast television systems provide viewers with a large number of television channels. Users have traditionally consulted printed television program schedules to determine the programs being broadcast at a particular time. More recently, interactive television program guides have been developed that allow television program information to be displayed on a user's television.
Interactive television program guides allow the user to navigate through television program listings using a remote control. In a typical program guide, various groups of television program listings are displayed in predefined or user-defined categories. Listings are typically displayed in a list, grid, or table. Interactive television program guides are typically implemented on set-top boxes located in the homes of users. A typical set-top box is connected to the user's television and videocassette recorder. Program guides that run on personal computers or that allow program guide information to be obtained using the Internet are also available.
Current television programming service providers typically provide television programing to customers that may live across a wide geographical area. It is not uncommon for a television programming service provider to provide television programming to a number of viewers who may not speak the same language, or who prefer speaking in a language different from the primary language of the geographical area in which the viewers live.
Some current interactive television program guides provide users with the ability to select languages for television programming from digital audio tracks on a digital channel. These interactive television program guides provide the user with the opportunity to select a language. The interactive program guide informs firmware in the user's set-top box of the selected language. A digital component selector in the set-top box then instructs a packet filter to filter out unwanted digital audio tracks based on unique packet identifiers (“PIDs”) that identify each of the tracks. The audio track with the PID that corresponds to the selected language is played by the set-top box on the user's television.
Current program guides do not provide for activation and deactivation of a secondary audio program (SAP) based on the language of the audio carried on the SAP. Current program guides also do not allow user to designate a single language for both displaying program guide display screen text (e.g., help text, program listings grid text, button labels, etc.), and for playing audio.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an interactive television program guide that allows a user to select a language for playing analog program audio and for displaying program guide display screen text. It would also be desirable to provide a program guide that allows a user to select a language in which both audio is played and program guide text is displayed. It would also be desirable to coordinate the language in which program guide display screen text is displayed with languages that are available to the user for playing television programming. For example, it would be desirable to have television program listings for a particular program displayed in a user selected language if the program, when actually broadcasted, has audio available in the selected language. Otherwise, the program listing for that program may be displayed and the program played in a default language.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide system that allows a user to select a language in which both programming audio is played and program guide display screen text is displayed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide that allows a user to select languages for playing television program audio provided on analog tracks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide that coordinates the language in which program guide display screen text is displayed with languages available for television programming when the television programming is broadcasted.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an interactive television program guide system in which-program guide display screen text in a selected language is downloadable by the program guide.